Love The Music
by zanessalovex33
Summary: Multi-million singer Troy Bolton wanted a normal life. After getting the opportunity to go back to high school for senior year, he decided to take a break from the music. Immediately he was loved by everyone at school; well all except for Gabriella Montez
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This is my first story in a long time. I really hope you guys enjoy it, I really like where my mind is going with this story. First chapters in books aren't always that interesting, but trust me, it'll get better!

All rights go to Disney and all song titles are either made up or from somewhere! The opening 'act' is a band I made up as well and the tour name.

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Chapter 1

The loud noise coming from the audience echoed throughout a sold out-concert Staples Center arena in Los Angeles, California. Children, teenagers, and even parents stood out in front of the stage, reaching their hands as far as they can towards the stage to be touched for a split second. Girls were crying while some were trying to capture a picture to treasure for the rest of their lives. At any moment, a riot could happen if the security were not tight around the stage. Everyone here in this arena wanted to see the teenage heartthrob perform at his best in his city that he lived in. After his longest note in his number one hit single 'Sorry Won't Cut It', Troy Bolton threw one hand balled into a fist into the air.

The fire sparks coming from the stage burst up into the air, shining light throughout the arena. Troy reached his hand out to the audience and everyone pushed to attempt to get a single touch from the singer. Flashes from the cameras were going off all around the arena, taking any possible candid they could of their icon. They began to chant his name, asking for an encore before he left the stage. This is the life he loved, the life he always wanted.

"Before I sing an encore song for you all, I just wanted to say a couple things. First; thank you everyone for coming out to the last show on the Forever Young 2010 Tour, it means a lot to have over 20 thousand of you packed in this arena tonight in my town L.A!" he dragged on the word L.A and the crowd went crazy. "I wish I could meet each and everyone one of you, but let's face it, that's impossible!" he chuckled in the microphone. "I'm a seventeen year old guy who has the best fans in the entire world and I am so grateful that you guys all enjoy my music. Second of all; if you haven't bought my new record, there will be stands all around the arena for your chance to buy it. Thank you for the support and thanks for making 'Sorry Won't Cut It' another number one hit!" The crowd erupted into cheers and some were trying to get his attention from the bottom of the stage. He winked and waved at the girls and they went completely insane after that. "Lastly on a serious note, this will be my last tour until 2012," Troy said in a sad tone and the crowd booed to the fact that he wouldn't be on another tour until later on. "I want to go back to school and finish my senior year like a normal guy. I will continue to write music and release music, I just won't be able to go back on tour," he said, "so as a thank you for everything, I'm going to sing my first #1 hit for you guys 'Imaginary World'." The crowd erupted into a louder cheer and Troy began to sing into the mic for one last time.

After Troy finished his song, he took one last bow and waved to the crowd. This moment was a moment he was going to remember, he loved doing this. Troy turned his back to the crowd and walked backstage to finish off the night. People were cheering for him and his tour crews were giving him a handshake for completing his first tour. "Great work everyone!" he yelled before going into his dressing room. Troy sat down in his chair and glanced at his reflection.

"Troy honey! You did amazing, I know you usually do, but tonight was just over the top!" his mom burst into the room and gave him hugs and kisses.

Troy laughed. "Thanks mom, it was fun, I'm definitely going to miss traveling all over the world," he said. He knew why he was doing this and he knew he'd regret it later, but he wanted to go back to school and see what it was like. The last time he ever gone to public school was in the seventh grade and he didn't even finish that.

"Well there's always 2012 sweetheart," his mom said to him. "So right now, I want you to get your personal things together and Delilah will get all your other stuff for you. The tour bus will be in the garage and the crew will show you where to go. There might be some fans waiting out there so make sure you sign whatever they have with whatever time you have. I have to go talk to some of the workers here and then I'll meet you on your bus," she said to him. His mom was like his manager; she always did all of the paperwork and business-like stuff for him. She made the big decisions and made sure to hire the right people. He trusted his mom with his life; he knew he could put his life in her hand and know that it'll be fine. "Don't be late or stay out with the fans too long, I know you love to do that but we have to catch the next flight out to Albuquerque to meet up with your dad," she said before leaving the dressing room.

Troy changed into the clothes he just performed in and changed into a pair of basketball shorts and a sweatshirt from USC college. He grabbed his iPhone from his desk and then his duffel bag from the closet in the back. He made sure he had all his personals before the crew took him to the tour bus. Once he got out of the arena, screams erupted immediately from the fans waiting out by the gate. Troy grinned at them and went over to sign and take pictures with a few.

"Troy! What school are you going to? Somewhere in California?" one fan asked. Another fan tried pushing the first one out of the way to get an autograph and Troy went to sign her poster.

"Can't say," he said to her, winking and then signed a few more. He couldn't get to everyone in time before his publicist told him to get on the bus. "I hope to see you all in the future, love you all!" he said and went onto the tour bus.

"Now Troy, are you sure you want to do this?" Delilah asked.

Troy threw his stuff onto his tour bus bed and then flung himself onto the bed as well. "Do what? Go to school? Lilah, I've been set to go to school since before the tour, I know what I'm doing," he said.

"Yes Troy, I know you're smart enough but a public school? You know how crazy teenage girls can get. How are you about to get anything done at that school?" she asked him while making Troy his favorite coffee.

Troy laughed at the comment Lilah made about crazy teenagers. "Yes. I know. I think after the first month, they'll be fine," he said. "Besides, I'm pretty sure people at East High won't even care that a celebrity is in their school."

"You say that now…you say that now."

Troy's mom came onto the bus and closed the door behind her. "Sorry I'm late, some of your fans wanted to take pictures and they were too cute to resist!"

Troy rolled his eyes at his mom and pulled the covers on. "Wake me up when we're at the airport," he said. Troy was overwhelmed with everything that went on today. He was exhausted and wanted to go to his hometown and see his dad. All he wanted was to be in his hometown house in his bed with his dog and one thing he wanted was to start senior year.

* * *

"Oh my god, did you hear? Troy Bolton is coming to our school?"

"The Troy Bolton? As in the pop-star, teen heartthrob, Troy Bolton?"

"No way. I don't believe it!"

"He's soooooo cute! I want to ask him out!"

"Why is he going here?"

"Well this is his hometown and he wanted to go back to school so he chose here! Also his dad is the basketball coach, so it makes sense!"

"AH I can't wait!"

The story spread fast at East High. When one word came out from one person, it got back to her within the school day. Everyone loved to gossip, but they loved when the gossip was true. Gabriella Montez walked down the hall with her books in her hand as she heard the news about the pop sensation coming to East High. All she could do was roll her eyes at this 'Troy Bolton'. Oh yeah, she's heard of him. Was she fond of him? No. The petite brunette stopped at her locker and put away her books that she had in her hand. Once she closed it, the faces of her two best friends were by her side.

"Did you hear?" the blond asked.

Gabriella opened her mouth the answer the question, but the other friend intercepted before she could speak.

"Troy Bolton is coming here to our school!" she exclaimed in excitement.

Gabriella opened her mouth to sigh, "I know. I heard. I don't get what the big deal is. I mean I know he's a pop sensation and all the girls love him. I know that he has like a million hits on YouTube and over millions of stream on his music, but other than that, he's a normal teenager," she said to them. "I don't get why he has to go to public school when everyone knows it's going to turn into trouble anyways," she said.

"But Gabriella, he is so freaking cute," the blonde one said.

"Sharpay, he's beyond that, he is fine. Beautiful, gorgeous, and absolutely talented as well. I'm pretty sure my boyfriend will agree with that one," the other friend announced.

"Taylor, that's weird," Gabriella laughed.

The three best friends walked down the hallway while the gossip was still buzzing around the school. "When is he going to be here anyways?" Sharpay asked.

Taylor shrugged her shoulders, "if the gossip is true, then he should start coming here today or tomorrow," Taylor said to them.

These three girls weren't the most popular girls in school; they were average in the chain. Well, Sharpay was pretty popular since she was a cheerleader, but Taylor and Gabriella were just average girls who fit in with everyone else. They weren't what you would call the talk of the school, but they were known around school. Gabriella is the girl-next-door type of girl while Taylor was the smart and sassy kind of girl. The three of them together though was another story, they were inseparable. They have been best friends since middle school and they planned everything together. Wherever one went, the other two went too.

"I can't wait until the news about Troy dies down, I'm already sick of it," Gabriella said.

The two girls looked at each other before looking at Gabriella.

"What? I'm serious, we all know that this boy will come into our school acting like he's the big man on campus and he'll think everyone will bow down at his feet. I'm not having any of that especially since everyone here should be treated equally regardless if he's a superstar," Gabriella said.

Taylor placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Calm down Gabs, he can't be that bad" the 'that' being emphasized a bit.

"Whatever, let's just go to class," Gabriella said and the three of them walked to their first class. The talk of the school was Troy Bolton entering East High for his senior year. All the girls loved it, all the guys were stoked, and Gabriella, well she wasn't excited one bit.

* * *

The alarm beeped at six thirty and Troy's eyes fluttered open. "First day of school," he sighed. Getting up and out of his bed, Troy grabbed his towel and headed into the shower. All that was running through his head was would he be fine on his first day? Would there be a swarm of girls trying to get his attention? Was he going to make any friends? So many questions were running through his head that he didn't realize he was in the shower for longer than he wanted.

It took him a while to figure out what he was going to wear on his first day. He didn't want to dress overboard where he stood up or people thought he was better than everyone else. He owned a lot of tux and nice clothes since he had been to so many award shows. "Definitely can't wear a tux to school," he said and closed his closet. Going into drawers, he found some going out in public clothes that would have to do for now.

Troy Bolton stood in front of his mirror as he was buttoning his plaid shirt. A part of him was extremely nervous while the other part of him was anxious. He knew how people were going to react when they saw him, but was he going to like high school?

"Troy, you ready for school sweetheart?" his mom called out from the hallway.

Troy grabbed his backpack and his car keys, "yeah just a second," he shouted back. He grabbed his iPhone from off the charger and then headed out to the hallway where he was greeted by his mom. Troy could hear people outside. It could be the paparazzi or just the neighbors walking around and he prayed that it was just the neighbors. He didn't want the paparazzi following him to school, especially on his first day where he was trying to fit in with the rest of the crowd.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you on your first day?" her mom asked nervously.

Troy's dad walked into the hallway and placed his arm around his wife. "Relax honey, he'll be fine," he said.

Troy smirked at his father before kissing his mom bye. "I'll see you guys later," he said and went into the garage to drive his Audi. Fortunately, the people he heard outside were indeed his neighbors and he had nothing to worry about. Backing out of his driveway, he headed off to his first day of high school. There was no turning back now.

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**Thank you for reading my story. Reviews are very much appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed my story. It was all positive and I'm so thankful for that! I appreciate the support you have on my story. Enjoy chapter 2!

All rights go to Disney!

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**CH 2**

Troy finally found a parking between two large trucks and got out of his car. The car made a beeping sound when he clicked the lock button. As he was walking out of the parking lot, a male with a big afro almost ran into him. "Sorry dude," Troy managed to say to him.

The afro boy turned around, "its alri-"he was cut off when he realized who he was talking to. "Troy Bolton?"

Troy sneered and nodded his head, "that's me," he said to him, extending his hand towards the boy. "You are?"

"Chad Danforth, it's nice to meet you dude. Everyone here has been anticipating your arrival," Chad exclaimed.

Troy smiled. "Well I'm stoked to be here," he said to him.

Chad nodded his head. "I'm sure you are, look if you need someone to show you around, I'll gladly do so," he said and tucked the basketball under his arm.

Troy nodded his head, "that would be nice," he said. The two guys began walking towards the entrance of the school and Troy noticed the basketball. "You must play basketball here with my dad," Troy said.

He nodded, "Yup, season starting soon. You going to try out?" he asked.

Troy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know we'll see," he said. Troy loved basketball. It was his favorite sport, he was decent at it, and he could shoot a mean three pointer but he didn't play competitively. He did play in a charity basketball game though where he scored thirty points for his organization. Every point he made, he donated $100 to the charity. Every now and then before his tour, he'd play basketball with the guys at the event.

"Well you should come out, we could use another all-star on the team," Chad said with a grin. "Okay, now be warned. Once you walk through these doors, girls will be-" he was cut off by the sound of screams echoing down the hall. Footsteps were getting louder and there were all sorts of commotion in the hallway.

"IT'S TROY BOLTON!"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"I WANT HIS AUTOGRAPH!"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S ACTUALLY HERE!"

"Dude, run!" Chad said to him.

Troy laughed, "no it's okay, I'll be fine- ooph!" he was tackled by a freshman girl who was basically crying by the time she reached Troy.

Chad went to help Troy up, but the movement of everyone made it hard to get his hand to help him up. "Everyone back off!" Chad roared, but no one listened to him.

"Let me help!" Another guy said as he pushed through to reach Troy.

"Zeke, you try pushing over there and I'll see what I can do over here," Chad said and pushed the girls back. Chad saw another friend of his and turned his head, "dude Conner, can you help?"

Conner smirked. "No thanks," with that he walked away without turning back.

Zeke reached Troy and pulled him up. He made an opening for Troy to run and he looked at him. "Names Zeke, but there's no time for talking now. I need you to run down the hall as fast as you can to the closes classroom you can find," Zeke shouted over the scream.

Troy looked like a mess. His hair was all over the place and his shirt was half unbuttoned. One shoe was lost and someone had taken his backpack. Troy sprinted down the hallway and took a corner and immediately collided with another person.

She fell to the ground and her friends gasped as they tried to help her up without realizing who ran into her.

"I'm so sorry!" he shouted as he ran down the hallway some more.

The girls helped their friend up and then looked at the person who had ran into them. "That was Troy Bolton!" Sharpay exclaimed.

Gabriella held her head. "Oh man that hurt," she said and then looked at the figure running down the hallway. "Now you see why I don't like him?" she asked and the three of them walked off.

"I can't believe he's here!" Taylor exclaimed. They turned the corner and saw a mob of freshman and sophomores running towards them. "Oh crap! MOVE!"

The three girls pushed themselves back towards the locker as the mob ran past them.

Chad stopped when he saw the girls and he looked like he was out of breath. "Man, that's the last time I'm ever helping a superstar," he laughed and then looked at Zeke. "Thanks man, I owe you…er well, he owes you," Chad said.

Gabriella shook her head and walked off towards her first class as the bell rung. "I'm so sick of all this Troy Bolton crap!" she yelled and the rest of them followed her to their first class as well.

"Alright kids, move along!" the principal roared at the group of students who were trying to enter the classroom. The girls slowly scattered away from the door and headed to their destinations. Gabriella and the gang slowly walked towards the door and Gabriella groaned.

"He's going to be in our homeroom I'm assuming?" she said and walked in. There was Troy Bolton, sitting on top of one of the desks talking to Ms. Darbus.

Chad saw Troy and laughed. "Dude that was crazy, I don't know how you're about to last all the way until the end of the school year," he said.

Troy laughed and shook Chad's hand, "I know man, thanks though," he looked at Zeke. "And thank you too dude," Troy said and Zeke nodded.

Chad took his seat by Troy and smiled. "This is my girlfriend Taylor," he said, nodding his head towards the girl sitting behind him. "And next to her is our friend Sharpay, she's a diva so don't' be surprised. You met Zeke and in the back is Gabriella," Chad said.

"It's nice to meet you," he said to Taylor and Sharpay. He turned his attention back at Gabriella and began to say the same thing but stopped. "Hey, you're the girl I knocked down while running," he said. "I'm so sorry for that, I didn't mean to, and if there's anything I can do, please let me know," Troy said sincerely.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at the pop star, "no thank you," she simply said and the classroom got quiet. Gabriella acted like nothing went wrong and then the classroom got full with the students in first homeroom. People weren't as crazy as the girls in the hallway earlier. They nicely introduced themselves to Troy and some politely asked for his autograph.

"I wish I could stay in this class all day," he chuckled.

Ms. Darbus stood up from her throne and got the class' attention. "Okay as you know, we are pleased to introduce Troy Bolton to our school. Please don't overwhelm in and make him feel welcomed here at East High!" Everyone clapped for him, except for Gabriella.

The intercom announcement came on. "Good morning East High, I know this is not normal but there are a few things I would like to say," the principal announced. "Everyone knows by now that Troy Bolton is here at East High. This morning he was welcomed by a group of people who almost endangered the life of the new student. Please don't crowd him in the hallways as he is just trying to be like everyone else. If we can keep this good behavior up for a week, Troy and I will discuss an assembly on Friday where he will perform a couple songs and where each and every one of you will be able to meet and take pictures with him after school, thank you."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "are they kidding me?" she asked herself in her head. They were going to have an assembly just for him? That was unnecessary.

Troy forced a smile. He didn't want to bring his music career into his educational career. That was his main reason why he wanted to go to high school. He didn't want to ruin it though so he forced himself to smile and agree along to the principal.

Homeroom was over and all the students went to their next class of the day. Troy lingered behind with Chad so he didn't have to deal with the crowd in the hallway. "So what class do you have next?"

"PE," he said. "My favorite class of the day," Chad said.

Troy sighed. "Lucky, I have Chemistry," he hated chemistry with a passion, but he knew he needed the credit to graduate.

"Well you can meet up with me later at lunch and you can eat with the gang," Chad said and they did the guy handshake before parting their ways for the rest of the day until lunch.

* * *

It was lunch time and Gabriella was hungry. She brought her own lunch to school so she was the first one at the table with Chad. "So how was your day so far Chad?"

Chad shrugged, "same ol' same ol'," he said. "I invited Troy to come eat with us at lunch so hopefully none of the groupies come over and try to sit with us," he laughed. "I'm pretty sure Sharpay will set them straight and they'll listen anyways."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, hoping Chad didn't see but he definitely just saw. "Do you not like Troy?" he asked.

Gabriella opened her mouth to say something, but Troy arrived at the table and sat across from Gabriella. "It's Gabriella right?" he asked.

She glanced at Troy and then took a bite of her sandwich before nodding.

"Look Gabi, can I call you Gabi?" he didn't want for her to answer. "I'm sorry for running into you earlier like that," he said.

Gabriella swallowed her bread and then looked at Chad. "Please tell the girls I'm going to go eat in the music room," she said. She got up and walked off with her lunch.

"I think that's the first girl that's ever hated you," Chad laughed.

Troy looked at Gabriella and watched her walk off before looking back at Chad. "Yeah whatever," he shrugged his shoulders. "She'll have to be fine with me if we're friends right? Since you guys all hang out together or whatever," Troy said.

Conner O'Riley walked over to the table and placed his basketball on the table before grabbing a chair and turning it backwards and sitting it. "Troy Bolton."

Troy looked at the basketball player and smiled. "I am, and you are?"

"Conner O'Riley, all American basketball player, 3 times MVP in basketball," Conner said, obviously bragging about his award.

Troy gave a friendly smile, "that's cool. Well it's cool to meet you Conner," he said.

Conner smirked and stood up. "You too," he said and walked off.

Chad looked at Conner and then at Troy, "don't be phased by him, he's just mad that he's not the big man on campus anymore," he said. "He's use to all the attention on him and now that you're here, he's beginning to think that you're a threat. He's a cool dude, but sometimes he could be a drama queen," Chad said.

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "well he has nothing to worry about because I'm not trying to be in the light here in at this school. I'm just going to be a normal teenager who wants to finish school," Troy said and then the rest of the gang came.

"Hey where's Gabs?" Taylor asked.

"She wanted me to tell you guys she's going to eat in the music room," Chad said.

"Why?" Sharpay followed with a question.

Troy raised his hand, "my fault, I don't think she likes me very much," Troy laughed slightly.

Lunch seemed to go by quickly and no one bothered to disturb Troy. It seemed like every wanted the assembly to happen this Friday so they were all trying to do their best to stay away from Troy. Troy liked his first day so far, he made new friends, enemies, and he even liked his classes. It would take a while for everyone to get use to Troy attending their school, but eventually they'll realize that he's just like everyone else. On a normal day like this, Troy would be out doing interviews or a photo shoot for some magazine. He would have never been sitting in classroom learning from a teacher at this hour. Life was just hectic for Troy in the music business; it was nice for a change.

After lunch, Troy and Chad walked to their next class that they had together which was History. "So you should really think about joining the basketball team," Chad said. "Try-outs begin next week for the new players who want to join the team, but I'm pretty sure you'll make the team. We should ball together sometimes after school whenever you can," Chad added.

"You can come over after school if you want to my place, we have a court out back and I'm pretty sure we can get a one on one game or something," he said.

"Really dude? That would be cool to see your mansion," Chad laughed. "I can get some of the other guys too if you want," Chad said.

This would be a perfect time for Troy to gain some new friends, people who are real to him and want to be his friend for him and not his fame. "Sure that would be cool," Troy said. "I'll meet you at my car after school and we'll discuss what to do," he said. The two entered their history classroom and Troy took his seat at his assigned seat.

Gabriella walked in with her friend not long after they did and went to find her seat. To her dismay, she was seated next to Troy. Walking over, she placed her books on the table and sat down without saying another word to him.

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot," Troy said to Gabriella with a charming smile.

Gabriella paid no attention to his face and shrugged her shoulder.

"Gabi, I'm not a bad guy, I'm really not…what you heard or what you think of me is probably not true," he said to her. "I promise."

Gabriella stayed quiet for a second and then turned to look at him. "Let me guess, you're a guy who thinks he can get any girl to fall for his charm and you think that saying sorry will make us be friends. I'm sorry if I'm not like the other girls falling at your feet, but I just don't think you're that great. Don't get me wrong you're an amazing artist and I respect your music, but other than that I don't find a need to know you," she said. "And don't call me Gabi," she said.

With that, the class started and Troy had nothing else to say but to stare forward. _I don't find a need to know you,_ echoed in his mind for the rest of class.

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**Reviews are very much appreciated! Please and thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks everyone for their feedback, after reading please review!**

**All rights goes to Disney.**

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Chapter 3

"So what's the deal with Gabriella?" Troy asked and bounced the ball to Chad.

Chad shot the ball from the elbow of the key and shrugged his shoulders. "She's very opinionated, don't mind her. She'll get over her issues eventually, until then you can just ignore her," Chad said as he got his rebound and passed it to Troy.

Troy laughed. "She's very…I don't know, something different about her man. She doesn't like me or the artist me," he said. He took the ball from Chad and went behind the three point line before shooting a three pointer. He swished it with no problem and then went to shoot the same shot again.

"Trust me dude, she's not someone you'll want to get involved with. She'll eat you alive," Chad said and then the others showed up.

Conner and Zeke walked through the backdoor and immediately Conner smirked at Troy. "Nice place you got," Conner said. "Not bad for a 'multi-million recording artist'" he air quoted the last part of his sentence.

Troy smiled, "thanks dude," he said. Troy had a thing where it was normal for him to be nice to anyone, regardless if they were a real ass or not which in Conner's case; he was. The sound of the basketball was echoing through the background.

"How about we get a little two on two going on. Me and my man Zeke against you and Troy," Conner said and took the ball from Troy's hand before going up for a dunk. Conner was a tall boy, it didn't take him long to jump up and dunk a ball.

Troy looked at Chad and the two of them nodded, "game on," he said.

Troy started out with the ball and checked it at Conner before bouncing the ball. He crossed Conner over and went for the lay-up but out of nowhere, Conner smacked the ball away, preventing it from going through the hoop.

"Get that out of here!" he shouted and Zeke and him high-fived.

Chad smirked, "don't sweat it, he gets very cocky when he plays," Chad said and gave the ball back to Troy.

Troy shook his head and took the ball again. He shot the ball this time but it rolled around the hoop before missing the hole. Troy shook his head and then looked at Conner who went back to get the ball before going up for a dunk.

"Give up Troy, you can't play like me. Your skills are just as bad as your music," Conner spat out.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and all looked at Conner.

"Dude, you crossed the line bro," Chad said and then walked over to him but Troy held his hand up to hold Chad back.

"No it's okay," he said. Troy was pissed. He was extremely angry, but he didn't show it. When he got the ball back, he bounced it back and forth before crossing Conner over again and going up for a pump fake. Once he had Conner in the air, he did a reverse lay-up and scored.

"Nice one Bolton!" Chad and Zeke both said and Conner took the ball angrily.

"That's his only one," he shouted. Conner attempted to do the same thing as Troy, but this time Troy had quick hands and stole the ball from Conner before passing it to Chad who went in for the dunk.

"This is bullshit!" Conner threw the ball at the fence and began to walk towards the house.

As soon as the ball flew back towards the court, Troy's dad also known as Coach Bolton stepped out. "What's going on out here O'Riley?" Troy's dad was watching from inside. He never knew his son had that type of skills in him and he didn't know O'Riley had that much anger towards his son. "I hope everything is going well?"

Conner looked down at the ground before finally meeting the eyes of the coach. "Yes sir, I just have to go, my mom called me home," he said.

Mr. Bolton watched Conner walk out of the house and then looked at the three guys, "Troy, I didn't know you could play like that, since when could you sing and play?" he joked.

Troy and the guys laughed, "I play every now and then dad," he said.

"Well let's finish this two on two game I was seeing," he took the ball from Zeke's hand and went in for a shot. They all resumed to play but this time it was more fun and games then a serious game like Conner had taken it.

"Alright so we'll see you tomorrow then Troy," Chad said before walking out of the house after dinner. "Thanks for dinner, it was great Mrs. Bolton," he told Troy's mom.

Troy's mom smiled, "thank you, tell your mom I said hi," she said and then waved at Zeke. "Thanks for staying!" she said.

They waved before getting into Chad's car. Troy watched them drive off before closing the door behind him. His family was still in the kitchen so he went to join them as his mom was cleaning the dishes. "Mom, you're doing the dishes?" Troy said in a surprised tone.

"I know tell me about it, sixteen years and she finally does the dishes," Troy's dad said, laughing a bit.

"Jack, shut up," his mom said and Troy laughed.

Jack turned the TV on to some basketball game that was going on. "I don't understand why she doesn't hire a maid, I mean we have a whole lot of money," he said.

"Because I want to be a normal housewife and act like one!" Troy and his dad laughed at it and then Troy went to join his dad at the TV.

"So tell me how your first day went."

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "it was crazy, like a regular concert crazy. I get into school and these girls are swarming at me like I was the only thing to eat. Other than that, school was great. I meant some good people and everyone seemed to like me…except for this one girl Gabriella Montez," he frowned. "I don't know why, but she doesn't see what other people see."

"Gabriella Montez? Her father owns the mechanic shop down the street," he said. "Well it probably takes time for her to like you. I mean who doesn't like The Troy Bolton?" his dad asked.

Troy laughed and shrugged his shoulders, "I hope so because the people I became friends with are very good friends with her."Troy looked at the time on his phone and stood up. "Well I got to go do my homework," he said and strolled into his bedroom. He was looking forward to tomorrow; it felt like it was going to be a good day. Once he sat down on his bed, he pulled out his homework but it took him a while to start doing it. Once he did, he got sidetracked and looked at his guitar. Raising his eyebrow, he closed his chemistry book and picked up his guitar. He began to play the guitar until he had a melody he liked and began to write some lyrics to go along with the melody. As he was beginning to write a new song, his phone beeped and he had received a text message from his publicist.

_Check your email._

Troy sighed and got up from his bed and over to the computer on the table. He signed into his email and saw an email from his publicist with something attached to the email. He opened it and read the headline on the article.

_Troy Bolton makes an enemy at East High; Conner O'Riley_.

Troy read the article before seeing a picture of Conner and paparazzi outside of his house. He skimmed the article until he saw words saying "yeah, Troy couldn't handle me being an amazing basketball player." Troy rolled his eyes and closed the article. This was going to be one hell of a year for Troy.

* * *

The next day at school, Troy decided to get to school early to avoid the mob like yesterday morning. There were barely any people here except for those who took an early class. Troy had nothing to do and the gym wasn't open so he could shoot around. He went to the library and saw too many people in their already doing their homework. Troy sighed and glanced around for somewhere to go and finally he saw a classroom that caught his eyes.

Music Room.

Troy opened the door and heard the piano being played and a voice singing along to it. He raised his eyebrow a bit and noticed a brunette sitting at the piano singing and playing with her heart. He leaned against the wall and listened to her sing. Her voice was amazing, he knew it and she probably knew it as well. Once she finished her song, she wrote some notes onto a sheet of paper and then flipped to the next page. Troy clapped his hands together which startled her and she dropped her papers. She turned to see Troy and her faced immediately dropped. Troy noticed it was Gabriella and then noticed the papers being dropped so he scrambled over to help her pick up her papers.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he said.

Gabriella didn't glance up at him as she gathered her paper together. She was embarrassed and scared at the same time since she didn't know he was in the room with her.

"Gabi, I'm sorry," he attempted once again and handed her the papers that she dropped.

She took the papers from his hand and stood up. "Stop apologizing to me and stop calling me Gabi!" she said and quickly exited the music room. Troy watched her go and he sighed, he wanted to know why this girl hated him so much when he didn't do anything wrong to her. Troy took a seat in front of the piano and played one of his songs.

As much as he wanted to go to school he definitely missed performing. Seeing all the new faces and the familiar faces made him feel like home. Singing and dancing in front of thousands of people was something he missed. He remembered the first day he ever performed in front of a crowd. It was scary but at the same time he loved it. It was the start of his career which took off immediately. A month after his first performance, his first single went number 1 and triple platinum. A couple months after that, his first self-titled album was released world-wide and went 3x platinum. He remembered that day perfectly because he was sitting in his backyard while working on music. He was thankful everyday for the opportunity he had from when he first started to sing to when he was signed by Sparks Record.

Once he finished his song, he heard some claps behind him. Thinking it was Gabriella; he turned around to smile at her but instead was greeted by a teacher.

"I know you were a great singer, but that was phenomenal," she said. "I'm Mrs. Kearse," she said to Troy. "You should really join the music program here," she said.

Troy smiled and shook her hand, "it's nice to meet you Mrs. Kearse, but I don't think that's a good idea for me. I'm trying to take a break from singing until I finish school," he said to her.

Mrs. Kearse frowned, "aw, well that's too bad, but just to let you know we have an opening here for you to join the class," she said.

"Thank you," he said, "I should get going now," he added and waved to her before leaving the classroom. If he was still trying to sing, he'd join the class, but he didn't want to be known as the singer here at East High. Troy saw Chad and Zeke by the girls including Gabriella. Troy walked over to them and smiled, "hey guys," he said.

They all said hi in unison except for Gabriella who didn't bother looking at him. "Where were you just now?" Zeke asked.

Troy looked at Gabriella who knew that answer but then looked at the others, "I was just in the music room," he said. "Mrs. Kearse asked me to join the music team," Troy said to them.

This caught Gabriella's attention as her jaw slightly dropped. She couldn't believe it. He was really getting everything he wanted wasn't he?

"Gabriella, are you on the music team?" he asked, this time making sure he didn't call her Gabi.

Gabriella stared at him with disbelief and walked off without saying a single word to anyone else. She couldn't stand behind around him right now and he had the nerves to ask her if she was on the music team. Everyone stared at Troy and shook their heads at him.

"What do I do _now_?" Troy sighed, "I made sure I didn't call her Gabi," Troy said in a confused tone.

Taylor leaned against the locker and took this question to answer. "She's not on the music team, she was told that it was full and that Mrs. Kearse wouldn't be taking any new students until someone leaves," she said. "And I think when she asked you, it shocked her because it seemed like you got an exception when she didn't."

Troy frowned; he didn't mean to upset her. He didn't know and if he did he wouldn't have brought it up. "…but she has an amazing voice, why wouldn't Mrs. Kearse let her?"

"Since freshman year Mrs. Kearse said she wasn't able to join the team and she would be lucky by senior year if she still wanted to," Sharpay said. "You heard her sing? When?"

"Just now in the music room," Troy said.

"That's weird, she never lets anyone hear her sing. She said if she made the music team then she'd allow people to hear her, but she didn't so she didn't let anyone, I can't believe she let you," Sharpay said.

Troy shrugged. "It was more like I walked in and heard her. When she saw me, she wasn't happy," Troy said.

Before they could continue their conversation, a freshman girl walked up to Troy. "I know I'm not suppose to do this but can I have your autograph? I won't be here at school tomorrow for the assembly," she said quietly.

Troy smiled, "of course you can," he said and took the pen from her, "what's your name?" he asked. Once he got her name he wrote on the paper.

_To Casey,_

_Thank you for the love and support._

With that he signed it Troy Bolton and handed it to her, "there you go," he said.

"Do you ever get tired of it?" a voice asked from behind.

Troy turned around and saw a blonde standing there watching him sign the autograph. He smiled at her, "never," he said.

She smiled, "well that was….cute," she said to him. "I'm Allie," she said.

"Allie. Nice to meet you," he said. She was a cute girl; she looked like she was a junior at best.

"Well Troy Bolton, its nice meeting you, see you around," she said and walked off.

Troy watched her walk off and then felt the nudge of his friend, Chad.

"That's Allie, she's a cheerleader, she's very…out there," he said. "She's nice to the athletes, but to others not so much. She dated Conner on and off for the past four years. They're very…not good for each other but meant for each other at the same time," he said to him. "I'd be careful if you're persuing her, Conner doesn't like it when guys take his girl and he hates you already, this will push him over the top."

Troy shook his head, "I'm not looking to pursue anything with anyone," he said. It would be nice to push the limits of Conner however.

"So remember, basketball tryouts next week," he said.

Troy nodded his head. "You can bet I'll be there."

* * *

During lunch, Troy walked over to the table and saw everyone but Gabriella once again. Sighing, he tossed his lunch away and went to the music room where he assumed Gabriella was and he was right. There she was sitting at the piano, but this time she wasn't singing, just writing. There was no one else in here but her and he knew she'd flip out when she saw him again.

"You know, if it really bothers you that I'm eating lunch at your table, I'll eat somewhere else so you can join them again," Troy said to her.

Gabriella quickly turned around and looked at Troy. "What are you doing in here again?" she asked bitterly.

"Look Gabriella, I don't know what your problem with me is but it's getting pretty old by now," he said. "I said sorry about a hundred damn times but you can't forgive me for whatever I've done? You must have some serious issues. I'm sorry that Mrs. Kearse offered me a role on the team. I didn't take it though so there's nothing you should be mad about anyways. I think you're just overreacting."

"Overreacting? You think I'm overreacting?" she scoffed. "Yeah right Troy," she said and gathered her stuff together. "I'm leaving."

"Yeah you seem to be doing that perfectly well," he snapped.

Gabriella glared at him and pushed past him. "Go to hell," she said and walked out of the room.

Troy realized what he had said and turned around. "Gabriella, I didn't mean that, I don't usually- Gabriella stop!"

Gabriella continued walking down the hallway back to the lunchroom where the others were. Who was this guy to try and talk to her? She made it clear she didn't want to get to know him and didn't want anything to do with him. Why was he still trying?

"Trouble in paradise?"

Troy turned around to see the one person he didn't want to talk to. Conner. "What do you want? Let me guess, you want to make up another story and tell it to the press? Go on right ahead," Troy said.

"Woah there pretty boy," Conner said, holding his hand up. "No need to get defensive. Besides I was just having a little fun," he said. "Besides, your fan base has done enough attacking on me alright?"

Troy shook his head and walked away.

"So I heard you're trying out for my basketball team? What the hell is that?" Conner asked while following Troy.

"It's what it sounds like," Troy said back to him and turned the corner where the fans slowly approached him.

"You don't know what you're in for Bolton!" Conner shouted before his voice was overtaken by the fans' voice.

* * *

By the end of the day, the gymnasium was already filled up within two minutes of the end class. News reporters and paparazzi were in the gym taking pictures as well. A stage was set up in the front and the crew was putting together the mic for Troy. Troy stood in the apparatus room with his parents.

"I thought it was the end of your music career for now," his mom asked.

"Me too, but the principal suggested otherwise and I might as well do this for them now so they'll leave me alone later," he said.

The principal stood on the stage and took the mic as the gym got quiet. "I know this is what you've all been waiting for," the principal said and the gym went crazy. "I won't talk anymore and let me introduce East High's very own Troy Bolton!" The crowd erupted into screams and cheer. It was like touring all over again. Troy waved to the crowd and stood on the stage. Immediately he started singing his current hit 'Sorry Won't Cut It'. The crowd sang along with Troy and after his first song, he sang one more which was one of his other hits. Following that, he announced that he'd be doing a signing and promised to meet everyone in this gym. He sat down in a chair and met a lot of people in his class. Some of them wanted to show him to class tomorrow, some wanted to eat lunch with him, and others would ask if he would be playing basketball. Within 3 hours, he met every single person in the gym. Last in the line were his friends.

"Great job dude," Chad said.

Troy smiled. "Thanks," he said, "look I'll meet you guys in a bit I got to go to my locker to grab my things," he said.

"Alright hurry we want to take you to Kyle's party," Zeke said.

Troy went inside of the school and to his locker to grab his other clothes. He heard noises coming from the music room and after getting his stuff, he entered the music room to see Gabriella. "Why are you always here?"

Gabriella let out a frustrated sigh, "why do you always come in here?" she countered back.

Troy smirked, "I heard music and wanted to see who was in here," he said. "You didn't come to my little concert?" he asked.

"No, why would I?" she asked and then went back to writing down some things.

"Well again, sorry," he said before turning his back to walk towards the door. He wasn't sure why he apologized again but he just felt like he needed to every time he ran into her or saw her.

"Like you said Troy, _Sorry Won't Cut It_," she said and went back to ignoring him.

"Touché." Troy walked out of the room and met up with the rest of the guys.

The guys took Troy to one of the football player's house for a party that was thrown every Friday. Many people were there and many people knew Troy was coming. Kyle had told everyone to calm down and if someone tried something funny he'll have them thrown out immediately. Once Troy got out of the car, he was greeted by Kyle.

"I'm Kyle Simmons," Kyle said.

Troy smiled. "Troy," he said.

"Well go inside and get something to drink, don't worry I calmed everyone down so no one should be bothering you."

Troy walked in and he was greeted by a few people he saw around school. When he got to the back of the house, he saw Allie who waved him over. Troy walked over to her and smiled at her friends.

"Troy this is Leah and Lexie," she said.

They had to be cheerleaders since they were wearing that jacket that all cheerleaders seem to have. "It's nice to meet you guys," he said to them and then looked at Allie. "So how's cheerleading going?"

"Good actually! Next week we're having a little fundraiser fair event," she said excitedly. "We're going to be having food, games, and all that fun stuff," she told him. "Actually, now that we speak of it, I want to ask a favor from you."

Troy groaned, he knew she was going to ask him to perform for them at the fair. He really didn't want to. "Allie look, I love to sing, but I don't think-"she was cut off by him.

"Sing? I wasn't going to ask you to do that silly!" she giggled. "Since next week is the kick off of winter sports, I want to ask you if you'd be willing to be at the kissing booth for the guys side!" she said. "I mean we usually ask athletes, but we think that you could be a great asset to the booth!"

Troy raised his eyebrow. A kissing booth? Now that was new. "I don't know…"

"Troy pleeeeassssse! We all know how much you love to help charities and such…" she slyly added.

Troy sighed. "Fine, only because it's all going to charity," he said to her. She kissed him on the cheek and grinned.

"Great! Thank you sooo much!"

Troy finished his non-alcoholic drink and looked around. "I should go, I have things to do tomorrow," he said to the girls.

"Of course, pop star always has something to do," Allie said and waved to him. Troy went to find his other friends and told them he had to leave and they said okay. Once he got into his car he started to drive him. Mid-way home, his car was beginning to make funny noises and finally it gave him while he was on the streets.

"You have got to be kidding me," Troy said. "This is a brand new car and this happens?" he groaned and then called his dad. "Yeah, I need the number of a mechanic or someone who can fix my car."

"I'll call them for you, just stay there and wait for them there," he said.

Troy sighed, "Alright, thanks dad." Troy hung up the phone and sat in his car until a tow-truck came. After fifteen minutes of waiting, the tow truck came and on the truck said the words 'Montez Mechanic', _this must be Gabriella dad's business_.

"Troy Bolton?"

Troy nodded his head.

"Wow! I never thought that one day I'd be helping Troy Bolton, hop into my truck and I'll have your truck fixed in no time!"

Troy got into the truck and smiled. "Thank you so much," he said to him. Well his dad seemed to be friendlier than Gabriella, that's for sure. He drove for fifteen minutes until they reached their shop that was still open. The two of them got out of the car and Troy took a seat in the chair that was provided for him.

"Now I have to finish up on this other customer, but for now my daughter will be working on your car," he said and went back to his car that he was working on.

"Say what?" Troy said but he had left before he could get a response.

Gabriella walked out from the back and stopped in her track when she saw Troy sitting there. "You have got to be kidding me," Gabriella mumbled. She wiped her hand on the dirty rag and went over to Troy.

"I swear I'm not stalking you, I was at Kyle's party and my car broke down on my way back to my house," he said.

Gabriella rolled her eyes and opened his hood of the car. She glanced over a few things and sighed, "this is gonna take forever," she said to herself in particular.

"Don't worry I can wait," he said to her. He was impressed that she knew a lot about cars. It was amazing because not a lot of girls were into this sort of stuff. She seemed to know her cars extremely well. "Look Gabriella, since now you can't run away, please let me explain myself," he said to her. "I'm not a bad guy," she didn't even bother to stop and look at him as she continued to work on the car. "It might seem like my self-esteem is high but it's not. I'm very cautious about myself, sometimes when I go on stage I'm afraid that I'm not good enough," Troy told her. "Please just let's start over and start fresh," he said with a puppy face look on her face.

Gabriella turned to look at him and she couldn't help but notice that he was extremely cute with that face. Okay, she knew all along that he was attractive; she just didn't want to admit it. "Like I said before Troy, I don't want to know you," she said and with that closed the hood of her car.

* * *

**A/N: I know Gabriella seems to be a real bitch, but you'll figure out why later. Please review and let me know what you guys think.**


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you SO much for reviewing and reading my story. You have no idea how much it means to me. Here's the next chapter!

All rights goes to Disney.

* * *

Chapter 4

The weekend had gone by rather quickly for Troy. He had a few interviews he scheduled a few months back and had to do them all in one day. After his interviews he had to go and a photo shoot for the magazine that booked him last year. Majority of the interviewers asked him why he wanted to go back to school and if he was ever going to write music ever again while he's in school.

"You know…I've always wanted to be a normal guy who attends his senior year of high school. I just wanted to do that before I didn't have a chance ever again," Troy answered the interviewer. "If there's a good song that comes in my head and I need to write it down, I will. I won't take time out in my day to lock myself up in the studio to force myself to write something however. My fans can be expecting some new music next year as I promised them," he said to her. Troy finally finished his weekend of music mania and went home to enjoy the rest of his weekend.

This week at school was basketball try-outs. Not only that, but the charity fair that he promised Allie he would do. It couldn't have been that bad though right? It was all for a good cause and he hoped people saw it like that. Besides it was only for half an hour anyways and then he was free to do whatever he wanted. He was stoked for basketball tryouts though, playing on a team with his friend and his dad would be an amazing experience. The sun shined through the large glass windows in Troy's house which forced him to wake up. He sat up in his bed and glanced at the clock lying next to him. He was half an hour awake before his alarm was supposed to go off. Troy did his usual morning routine and then went into the kitchen where his parents were sitting and eating breakfast.

"Mornin'" Troy yawned as he spoke.

"Morning honey, want some pancakes?" his mom asked from the stove.

Troy nodded his head and poured himself a glass of milk. This was the first time he was eating breakfast with the family. Usually he would only have enough time to get ready for school.

"Delilah is coming here for dinner tonight, so make sure you get home as soon as basketball try-outs are finished," his mom said.

Troy shook his head, "can't, I have a charity thing I have to do for school," he told his mom and gulped his glass of milk down.

His dad and mom looked at him and raised their eyebrow, "charity event for what?"

"Oh it's that fair that the cheerleaders hold every quarter right?" his dad asked him. Sometimes his dad was pretty clueless about the activities that went on during the school year. It was always basketball that was the number one priority for him.

Troy nodded his head, "yeah, after practice I got to go straight there," he said.

"Well practice will be an experience for you, you know I can play favorites during practice. I'm going to treat you like the other new players," his dad said.

"Dad, I know. I'm glad you're treating me like the others, I wouldn't want them to think I only made it because you're my dad," he said.

"And at school I only go as coach, not dad," his dad informed.

Troy rolled his eyes and looked at the time. "I got to go to school now," he announced and kissed his mom on the cheek before getting into his car. On Friday, he had gotten his car fixed by Gabriella. Troy's attempt to befriend her didn't seem to work as she once again made it clear that she didn't want to be his friend. The ride to school was rather quick and he parked in his usual spot next to Chad's truck. As soon as he got out of his car, Gabriella pulled into her parking spot with Taylor.

"Hey Taylor," Troy said once she got out.

Taylor waved at Troy and then looked at Gabriella, "who knew that one day, Troy and I would be friends?" bragged Taylor.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "he's not that great Tay," she said and got her bag from the backseat. "Come on, I don't want to talk to him." There was no eye contact going on between the two and Gabriella headed to the entrance of the school.

"Are you ever going to tell me why you dislike this boy so much? Besides the fact that you think he's overrated?" Taylor caught up to her friend.

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders, "you don't need to worry about it," she said to her and then went to her locker.

"So are you going to volleyball try-outs or what?" Taylor asked.

Gabriella shook her head, "no not this year, I can't…not with everything I have going on and helping my dad at the shop," she added.

"But the team needs you!"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm sorry, I just can't Tay."

"Since when did sorry 'cut it'" a familiar voice spoke behind the two girls. Gabriella turned around to see Chad and Troy walking towards them. Gabriella immediately turned her back towards Troy and closed her locker. "I'll see you in class Tay," she said and walked off.

The other three looked amongst each other and Troy shook his head. "Gabi-…ella" Troy shouted out towards her. He jogged to catch up with her and then pulled her arm so she'd stop. "I didn't get the chance to pay you for fixing my car on Friday," he said.

Gabriella looked at him suspiciously, "why didn't you pay my dad when you were there?" she asked, continuing to walk.

"He told me to pay you when I saw you at school on Monday," he said and pulled out his wallet. He pulled out a crispy hundred dollar bill and handed it to her, "here, keep the change too," he said.

Gabriella stopped and looked down at the money then looked back up at him. "You're kidding me right?" she asked. Before Troy could answer, a group of girls came up to Troy.

"Can we take a picture with you?" they all asked in unison.

Gabriella glanced at the girls and then looked back at Troy. "Bye," she said to him and walked off to her class.

Troy wanted to chase after her, but the girls were crowding him, making it difficult for him to do so. He forced a smile and nodded his head; "sure," he said and placed his arms around the girls for a picture to remember.

During lunch, Troy walked into the cafeteria and people were waving him to come sit with them. He gave them a friendly smile and saw Gabriella at the table again. Not wanting to make her leave again, he decided to go to the music room. He sat down at the piano where Gabriella usually sat and smiled. His fingers lingered over the keys and gently, he closed his eyes. The melody of his songs was rushing into his head again and before he could press the button, a persons' voice disturbed his peace.

"Mrs. Kearse, I'm sorry I didn't mean to- I just saw it and had to play it," Troy apologized.

Mrs. Kearse gave Troy a friendly smile, "don't worry about it, it's open to anyone during lunch," she said to him. She sat down at one of the chairs, "so have you thought about joining the music team?" she asked in hopes of him changing his mind.

"Look Mrs. Kearse, I know this talented girl who would fit perfectly into your music team. I think you should give her my spot instead of me," he said to her. "Her name is Gabriella Montez, I mean if you ask her, she'll definitely say yes," Troy attempted to persuade her.

Standing up, Mrs. Kearse walked over to Troy. "Troy, the music team is full, but I made an exception for you because I know how talented you are," she said to him. "I think it'll be very good for the school if you joined."

Troy shook his head, "yes I love singing more than anything, but the team is not for me right now, just please let Gabriella sing for you and she'll change your mind," he said.

"Fine, I'll see what I can do, you're lucky I really like you Troy," Mrs. Kearse said and walked back into her office.

Troy grinned and knew that once Gabriella knew what he did, she'd be happy. Troy left the music room and walking down the hallway was Gabriella. "Gabriella!"

"Tried stalking me in the music room again?" she asked bitterly.

"Gabriella, I have great news," he said to her.

Gabriella stopped walking to listen to what he had to say. "What Troy?"

"I got Mrs. Kearse to give you an audition for the music team!" he said proudly. "It took some convincing, but she finally gave in and said yes!" There wasn't a single expression on Gabriella's face when she heard the news from Troy. "Aren't you going to say something? Maybe…thank you?"

"You are unbelievable."

Troy grinned. "Why thank you."

"No! You need to stay out of my business! What gives you the right to go to Mrs. Kearse and demand an audition for me?" she shouted. "You don't get it Troy; this was something I wanted to work at on my own, with no help from anyone. That's why I don't let people listen to my music," she shouted. Troy opened his mouth to say something but she continued to shout. "I don't need your money or your help okay? Just leave me alone, please!" Gabriella pushed past him and walked towards the music room to talk to Mrs. Kearse.

"Can I ever do anything right with this girl?" he sighed.

"Don't sweat it dude, she's just upset that you can do anything and she can't," Chad said to him. "I heard some shouting so I went to see what was going on and I saw you two. She's very sensitive with her music, that's one subject you should stay away from with her.

"All I want is to be her friend," Troy said. "And she can't even give me that."

Chad laughed, "I've never seen you try this hard on a girl before… I mean I've seen you in gossip stuff and all since Taylor tells me, but Gabriella seems to be intriguing you."

Troy shook his head, "no it's not like that," he explained. Really though, there was something intriguing about her. Maybe it was the fact that she was being real with him, something that not a lot of people at this school was doing.

* * *

After school, Troy was sitting in the locker room after getting changed into some basketball shorts and a USC basketball shirt. He laced up his Jordans and then walked out to the court where the rest of the guys were already warming up. Troy found Chad shooting with Zeke and he walked over to them. "So how crucial is practice really?" Troy asked. His question was soon answered when Coach Bolton blew the whistle.

"Alright! 50 lines from one basket to the other! GO!" he shouted and everyone took off to the line. Troy was surprise he didn't pass out and kept the same pace and speed as the other guys. Conner obviously finished first as he always did and waited for the others to finish. Once everyone was done, they all went to the middle of the court. "Okay, so newbies and returners; today I want to see what kind of skills you all have. I divided you all into four groups. Veterans will play each other while the newbies will play each other. When I blow my whistle, that means stop and the winning teams will play each other. Winning team will get a break from the 50 lines at the end of practice." Coach Bolton directed all the returning players to one side of the court and the new people to the other side of the court. Once he blew the whistle, everyone started to play.

Troy was having an amazing practice. He had 28 points and 13 assist before the coach even blew the whistle. Right when the whistle was blown, Troy made his shot which gave him a total of 35 points and 16 assist. His team blew out the other team by 22 points. All four teams went back to the center.

"So according to the stats that the assistant coach and myself has been keeping, Conner leads all four teams in points with 42, also leading in rebound with 14 on the game, but we have a new assist leader! Troy Bolton with an amazing 16 assist, beating reigning assist leader Conner by 3!" Everyone clapped and Troy looked at Conner who was not pleased. He actually looked more angry than pleased.

"Alright you two teams play each other and make sure you play at your best," coach announced and blew the whistle.

Conner stood in front of Troy to defend him, "you're weak Bolton, go back to singing where you belong," he said and tried stealing the ball, but Troy got past him to pass to one of his teammates.

Chad tried to block it, but failed to do so. "Conner you need to chill out dude," he said and went to hand the ball to him.

The game went back and forth for a while and Troy already had 32 points and Conner had 33 for the game. They were both going head to head, not wanting to lose to each other. The coach blew the whistle and walked over. "So it's tied right now, next point wins," he said. "We will have a jump ball on this possession so two tallest players please stand in the middle." The two tallest players stood in the middle and the veteran team won the jump ball, however when the ball was being tipped back to Conner, Troy jumped up and swatted the ball away to one of his players. The other teams who lost were watching from the side line. They cheered when Troy managed to do that.

The boy passed it back to Troy and he held it at the top of the key. "Don't choke now, Bolton." Troy smirked and bounced it between his legs before crossing Conner over like he did that one day in his backyard. He went up for the jump shot and it swished through the next. His team had won. Everyone all went over to Troy to congratulate him and Conner simply hit the ground extremely hard. "BULLSHIT!"

"O'Riley!" Coach Bolton yelled and made him run extra lines. Troy sat on the sideline and drank out of his water bottle. "Alright everyone bring it in, today was a good practice, tomorrow come with the same energy and we'll start the real try-outs," he said and put his hand in the middle along with the other players. "Wildcats on three, one, two, three! Wildcats!"

Troy grabbed his bag and walked with Chad back to the locker room. "Practice was actually fun today," he said to him.

Chad smiled. "You did great man, I can't believe you dropped more points than Conner," he said.

Troy grinned at him, "well he pushed my limits and I had to show him," he said and got changed into his clothes that he wore to school. "We better hurry or else Allie is going to be pissed."

The two of them changed into their regular clothes and headed over to the concourse where the fair was being held. Immediately when they arrived, pictures were being taken of Troy. Some people there were family members of students who knew that Troy was going to be there and they wanted to take his picture. Troy waved at them and then walked over to the booth where Allie was. "Allie!"

She turned around and smiled, "Troy! Right on time, you're time slot is right after Kyle's," Allie nodded at Kyle who was kissing a line of girls quickly. Troy turned to see where Chad was and noticed he had a shift at the water tank game. "Alright Troy, I'm going to make an announcement and once I do, let Kyle know that it's your shift and be prepared for the line of girls," she said. Allie went on stage and took the mic. "Alright ladies! Next at the kissing booth is your one and only Troy Bolton! Better hurry and lineup, he'll only be there for twenty minutes!" Girls began to scream and went to line up at the kissing both. Troy went to Kyle and then stood behind the booth, waiting for the okay to start. "Tickets will be $10 dollars to kiss Troy so grab your money out ladies!"

Once the announcement was finished, Taylor walked into the fair with Gabriella. "Every year this event is so big. Allie and Sharpay really know how to host a fair," Taylor said.

Gabriella smiled, "I know right? It's amazing."

Sharpay walked over to her best friends and smiled. "Hey guys! Ready to spend some money for charity?"

"I definitely am going over to the water tank game," Taylor laughed and saw Chad on the seat. She walked off to attempt to play the game.

Sharpay looked at Gabriella, "What about you Gabs? Kissing booth perhaps?"

Gabriella laughed, "oh no, I don't think so," she said.

"Oh why not? It's for charity Gabriella," Allie's voice echoed behind her. "Besides, we have the best behind the booth right now, it's only 10 dollars. It'll be good for you and the charity," she said.

Gabriella bit her tongue from saying something mean. She sighed and got her money out, "fine, only because it's for charity," she said and handed Allie the money. She got in line behind some other girls and shook her head. "Why is this line so long?" she asked. If it wasn't for Allie, she wouldn't have been in this line right now. Allie had her ways with words and there was no saying no to her.

"Well, well, well."

Gabriella heard a voice that made her heart stop and she glanced up from her cell phone. "You have got to be kidding me," she said and attempted to get out of line but Allie stopped her. "Hey now, it's for charity and you paid already."

"I donate the money, I don't need to be kissed," she said to Allie, but everyone behind her booed.

"Come on Gabi, it's for charity," Troy winked.

"Kiss. Kiss. Kiss!" chanted the crowd that was lined up behind her. Gabriella groaned, she knew that this would happen to her. Who ever thought that Gabriella would be kissing The Troy Bolton?

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**Thank you so much for reading my story! Reviews are very much appreciated!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: All right goes to Disney! I really appreciate all your feedbacks!**

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Chapter 5

"Kiss. Kiss. Kiss!"

The crowd continued to chant and Gabriella finally gave in. It couldn't be that bad right? She walked up the booth and leaned in for the kiss. Troy met her half way and placed his hand on her cheek. As soon as their lips met for what Gabriella thought would be a peck, Troy held her head towards his and deepened the kiss. It wasn't that he meant to do it, but something sparked inside of him and he continued the kiss. Everyone gasped, but Gabriella for some reason didn't deny the continuation of the kiss. Finally after a good ten seconds, she pulled back and stared at him blankly. Did that really just happen? She looked over at Sharpay who was grinning and then she quickly left the fair.

"What the hell was that?" Taylor asked as soon as she walked out with Gabriella.

Gabriella shook her head, "I don't know, one minute I walk into the fair, the next is I'm paying to kiss someone for charity, then the next thing I know, Troy and I are basically making out!"

"I thought you hated Troy?"

"I did. I do."

"Anyways, was he a good kisser?" Taylor had to ask.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "I don't want to talk about it. Let's pretend that never happened."

"But it did," Taylor said once before trailing behind Gabriella.

"I knew coming here was going to be a bad idea," Gabriella said. Okay she didn't, but she still knew that Troy would be here and would try to talk to her if he had the chance to. "I'm going back to my dad's shop to help him for the rest of the night, I'll see you at school tomorrow," Gabriella said. Taylor waved to her friend and then began to walk back to the fair. Gabriella watched her until she disappeared out of sight and then went into the music room. She laid her head down on the pillow and sighed, "I wish, I wish that never happened," Gabriella muttered out loud.

"Gabriella Montez."

Her head rose from the piano at the sound of the voice and she saw Mrs. Kearse standing there. "Oh Mrs. Kearse, I'm sorry for being here after hours, but I just needed to be here," she said to her nervously. She hadn't talked to Mrs. Kearse about Troy offering her the spot on the team nor has the teacher brought it up to her. "I'll leave now," she said quickly and stood up.

"Wait a second," Mrs. Kearse stopped her from leaving and she sat down at Gabriella's previous spot. "What do you think about joining this year's music team?" This was the moment Gabriella has been waiting for her entire high school career. Now usually she'd be screaming in excitement, but she knew she got this spot by default because of Troy.

"You and I both know that you asked troy to be on the team first. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been asked so I don't think it's fair that just because he asked you to ask me to join, I would," she told her. "I mean it's an amazing opportunity, don't get me wrong, but I just can't take the spot knowing that someone else was offered it before me, I'm sorry," she apologized and walked out of the music room before she could attempt to change Gabriella's mind. Leaving the school, Gabriella went to her car and drove to her dad's shop. Today was just too much for her to handle, she was still in disbelief that she had kissed Troy like that when everyone else had given her a peck on the lips. Behind her, a car had been following her around; every turn she took the other car did too. The sun had already set and barely any cars were on the inside road. A part of her was getting nervous like it was a stalker or something. She stepped on the gas pedal and drove quicker to her shop and the car trailed right behind her. Finally she made it to her shop and thankfully there were customers outside talking to her dad. She got out of the car and the other car did too. Gabriella was tempted to ask who he was, but her question was answered. The man took out a camera and began taking pictures of Gabriella quickly. "What the hell?" she tried covering her face, but the flash kept going.

Her dad took notice of this and ran over to them. "Who the hell are you and why are you taking pictures of my daughter?" he roared at the paparazzi.

The man stopped taking pictures of a second and stood up straight, "I'm Jesse who works for TMZ," he said. "I just wanted to take some picture of Troy's girlfriend," he said and continued taking pictures.

"Troy's girlfriend?" They both asked in confusion.

"Wait a second; I'm not Troy's girlfriend!" Gabriella exclaimed.

The paparazzi moved his face from behind the camera, "Uh, that's not what I saw, I mean you two were basically making out at the kissing booth and I could see the spark between you two, you can't say that you two aren't dating!"

Gabriella laughed, "Oh my god, you have got to be kidding me!" she yelled. "Okay first off, I kissed him for the charity event, second of all; I would never date Troy Bolton, not in a million years, and third of all; there is no sparks between me and him, you've got the wrong girl, now please leave or I'll call the cops," she threatened.

"Whoa there, I guess Troy has another enemy at the school, this will be great for our website! Thanks girl!" he said and drove off quickly.

Gabriella was shocked that they'd make up a story like that. She had never had her picture taken by paparazzi before. It caught her off guard, but she didn't want to deal with it at this time. Before it had gotten dark, Gabriella went to work in the shop with her dad for the rest of the night.

"So would you care to explain or are you never going to tell me?" her dad asked while they were working on the engine of a customer's car.

Gabriella dropped the wrench on the table and sighed, "There's nothing to talk about dad, it is what you heard. A charity event and I kissed him, big deal. I didn't even know he was the kisser. If I did, I wouldn't have paid to kiss him."

"Why don't you like Troy Bolton anyways? Don't say it's because you hate all pop stars," her dad asked.

Gabriella didn't answer him and picked up the wrench before going back to work on the engine.

"Honey, listen. What happened between your mother and I has nothing to do with you. It was her decision to go run off with a rock star and leave us behind," he said. "You can't go on hating all musicians for the rest of your life you know, there are some good ones out there…"

Gabriella stopped working on the engine and took a few deep breaths. She hated when he brought up this story, it was something she didn't want to remember anymore. The shop became quiet and all that was heard was the vents making noise. Gabriella dropped the wrench on the table and walked off to her office she had in the back. She locked the doors and sat in her chair before breaking down with her head in her hands. She hated her mom for what she did and knew that she could never forgive her or that man she ran away with.

_Four years earlier…_

_Gabriella walked up the stairs into her mom's room to see her packing her bags. She had no idea where her mom was going, but assumed it was another one of her 'business trips'. "Mom where are you going again?" she asked as she sat down on the bed while her mom was packing. The look on her mom's face looked determined and sad at the same time. It looked like someone who wanted to break down and cry but couldn't because they were in a rush._

"_Sweetie, go back to your room and go to sleep, I have to go somewhere," her voice cracked when she said it._

"_Okay…dad is downstairs watching TV, make sure he gets enough sleep for tomorrow because it's the grand opening of his shop," Gabriella said and kissed her mom goodnight. "Night mom, I love you."_

"_Gabriella, I love you too, so much. I hope you will know that forever," her mom said and then watched her daughter walk out of the room- and out of her life._

_Gabriella lay down in her bed and slowly began to drift off into a light sleep. Eventually she fell asleep, but half an hour later though, she was awoken to the sound of yelling. _

"_You're just going to leave? Just like that? Don't tell me it's because of Jason Star," his dad's voice rose._

"_He treats me better than you ever did!" she yelled back._

_Gabriella walked out of her bedroom and sat down on the stairs, listening to her parents argue._

"_How could you walk out on Gabriella like this? She's your daughter, she goes before any rock star and you know it!"_

"_She'll understand, she's still young!"_

"_She's 14 years old! She's smart enough by now to know that her mother is a slut!"_

_SLAP._

"_Don't you dare call me a slut!"_

_At that slap, tears began to roll down her face and she knew that her mom was leaving them for someone else. There was nothing she could do to stop her mom. She seemed set on leaving them and she wanted to be with the new man that made her happy._

"_He's going to cheat on you, and you know it. He'll get tired of you and find himself another groupie, that's what they all do!"_

"_Shut up, I'm leaving."It wasn't sadness in her voice anymore, it was anger._

"_Once you walk out those doors, we're over for good. Once Gabriella knows the truth, she'll hate you forever. Is that a risk you're willing to take?"_

"_Goodbye Vincent," the sound of the doors closed behind and all she heard was her dad cry. She never heard him cry before and to hear him now broke her heart even more. She knew that there was nothing she could do. Standing up from the stairs, she walked downstairs to her dad who was sitting on the couch and she sat down next to him. He pulled her into a hug and softly they both cried._

"_I'm sorry dad…"_

"_Ella it's not your fault, she chose her life and decided to leave us behind…"_

_End of flashback_

There were times where she missed her mom so much and wished she was here so she had someone to talk to. But after remembering what her mom did, she got so angry. She saw her mom and her Jason every now and then on gossip sites, but that was the only time she saw her. She lived in Los Angeles with him and his kid he had with another woman. Gabriella had no urge to go find her mom and talk to her. Her mom decided to walk out on her, not the other way around.

There was a soft knock at her door and Gabriella wiped her tears. "Who is it?"

"Gabriella honey, can we talk please?" her dad's voice asked.

Gabriella took a few deep breaths and then stood up to open the door. When she saw her dad, all she could do was hug him and cried in his arm. No matter how hard someone tried to fix the hole that her mom left, it would never be okay again for her. That was the reason why she never trusted rock stars again.

* * *

The next morning at school, Gabriella came early as usual to have some time with the piano. She walked into the empty school and headed down the hallways towards the room. When she got there, she heard the piano being played and it caused her to wonder. Only she would be the one in the morning to play this early. She pushed the large wooden doors open and walked until she saw a figure sitting at the piano; playing and singing at the same time. Instantly she knew that voice and that song that was played on the radio over and over. She had to admit, he had an amazing voice. As much as she hated the boy, she couldn't deny that he was talented. The way he was in his music made her admire him a little bit. They had the same outlook on music; they had a passion for it. "Like what you heard?" a voice disrupted her thought.

Troy closed the piano and smirked a bit. He hadn't forgotten about the kiss they encountered yesterday. Troy had no idea why he continued the kiss like that. He knew he was drawn to her the first moment they ran into each other. There was something about her that made him want to know her. Probably the fact that she hated his guts more than anything. It was impossible for him to change her mind though, it seemed like she was set on hating him for the rest of her life.

Her stomach jumped a little when he spoke and she looked back before answering. "Sorry I-"she stopped talking because she wasn't sure what to say. "I'll leave now," she said to him. Why was her stomach turning and feeling funny when she saw him?

"No I'll leave, I took your time in the morning," he said and stood up for her.

Gabriella looked at him weirdly and then went over to sit down at the piano where he was. She pulled out her music and then began to play the song. Troy stood near the door, listening to her melody that she was playing. Before he knew it, he walked over and picked up her music sheet before looking it over.

"Give that back," she said to him sternly.

Troy shook his head, "no let me look at it, I've written a lot of hits, I know what should be done," he said.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes at him. No one ever judge her music before, well probably because she never shared it with anyone before. "Troy I'm serious, give it back to me right now," she said to him.

Troy shook his head once again. "Scoot over," he said, making the hand motion for her to move over. Gabriella sighed and moved over as he said so. "You take this and let me play the song for you," he said. "I want you to sing along and then we'll work from there."

She gave him a weird look. Why was he trying to help her after all the mean things she has done to him. She wanted to get up and leave but he had part of her music sheet and he wouldn't give it back. Troy began to play the piano and Gabriella began to sing along. At one part of the song, Troy stopped. "Here's your problem," he said. He began to explain to her how the part of the song would fit better somewhere else and he showed her the revised version.

"I actually like that better," she admitted it to him and rewrote the part like he said. "This doesn't mean I'm going to be nice to you, I'm just letting you hear my music because you've heard it already," she told him.

Troy smiled. "I'll take that," he said. The rest of the morning the two of them finally got along for a little and worked on Gabriella's song that she had been working on for the longest time. Troy was surprised she didn't get up and leave when he criticized her.

Gabriella was surprised she didn't kick him out and tell him to go away. The musician Troy was getting along with Gabriella much better. Part of her guard was still up, she didn't want to be completely nice to Troy just yet because she wasn't sure what his motives were.

"You should really let people here this Gabriella," Troy said to her. "It's amazing!"

Gabriella shook her head and finally took all of her music sheets before putting it away in a folder. "No way," she told him. "It's not ready."

"Well when it is ready, you should really let other people here it. I have people at my record label who will be willing to listen to it," he offered.

Gabriella put her hand up when he said people at his label. "That right there is why I don't get along with you. You keep trying to buy my friendship in some way!" she said to him. "I don't need your record label, I don't want them to hear it, I don't want anyone to hear it!" she said and stood up.

"Gabriella I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I swear I won't do it again. I mean we got along today and I liked that," he said.

Gabriella sighed, "you can help me with my music, other than that we are not friends and nothing more," she said.

Troy smirked. "Nothing more? That must mean you read TMZ this morning," he said. "I'm sorry for the paparazzi following you to wherever you were going, I didn't think they'd follow you," he said.

Gabriella sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "can't really control them right?" she said and then grabbed her bags. "We should go, we have class soon," she said. Neither of them had brought up the kiss from yesterday.

"I'll have my publicist clear up the rumors," he said to her.

"You really have the good life don't you?" she said and walked out of the room before him.

"Almost perfect." He said after she left and left after her.

* * *

The second day of try-outs was just as good at the first for Troy. He was showing all of his best skills and he was out shining Conner who was not pleased by this. His team had won again in the little game they had and by the end of practice, Troy was the one to talk about. On his way to grab his stuff, his dad and the assistant coach called him over. He expected the worst from them, he expected them to say that they couldn't have him on the team because it would be too much trouble to have a celebrity play for them. He knew that his dad didn't want him to play because of the opposing team and if they'll get into his head by making fun of his music.

"Troy, we both think you have the ability to lead the team to another championship this year. With you, Conner, and Chad on the floor, we think you three will be unstoppable. It's perfect too because our point guard recently graduated and you can be the point guard for the season. We know it's early to say you're on the team but we think we've seen enough from you to add you to the team."

Troy grinned, he couldn't believe he had the team so quickly, "thank you so much," he said and shook both of their hands before going in the locker room to tell Chad the news.

"That's great dude! I'm so stoked for the season now!"

Conner over heard their conversation and walked over to Troy. "Don't think just because you're on the team, you're going to be the all American all star," he said. "That's my roll and if you mess with it, I'll guarantee your life will be over," he threatened and walked away.

Chad and Troy both looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "Drama queen," Chad said and they both laughed.

"Alright man, see you at school tomorrow," he said. Troy walked out into the hallway and was stopped by some freshmen. He allowed them to take pictures with him and he signed some autograph before walking out to his car. When he turned the corner to take the door that lead to his car, Gabriella turned the other corner at the same time. He smiled when he saw her. "Hey Gabi," he said.

Gabriella saw him and then her stomach flopped again. Stop it! Gabriella gave a tint of smile and continued walking.

"You're just going to ignore me now? After all I did help you write your song," he said to her.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "you can't blackmail me with that because I'd rather have no help from you in that case," she said. "And stop calling me Gabi," she said to him.

"I made the basketball team!" he said to her.

She turned and smiled, "wow really? Congratulations," she said to him. Of course once again, he's getting everything he wanted.

"Are you going to come to any of my games?"

"I'm pretty sure you'll have enough girl supporters there," he said to her. "And Jesse the paparazzi will probably be there too!"

He shrugged his shoulders, "sure they'll be there, but I'm asking if you are," he said to her.

Gabriella smiled at that. "Maybe, I'll see if my dad needs me in the shop or not." Gabriella reached her car and then opened it with the keys.

"I hope I'll see you at one of the games," he said and then walked off to his car.

Gabriella watched him walk away and then got into her car. What has gotten into her? Why was her stomach flopping every time she saw him after they had that one kiss?

On his way home from basketball practice, Troy stopped by the local market to pick up some water bottles for school tomorrow. He had his hood on and sunglasses in hopes of avoiding any commotion at the store. It would probably be difficult to avoid the fans, they knew him through anything he wore.

One time in LA when he was shopping for some clothes, a group of his fans mobbed him and took what they could from him. All he had left was his wallet and phone, other than that they had taken everything else. He didn't do much shopping on his own after that due to the commotion that went on, but here in Albuquerque was different. People seemed more calm than the other people in other cities.

When he got to the store, he saw a familiar person. "Allie!"

Allie turned around and got off her cell phone, "Troy hey! What are you doing here?" she asked. To everyone, Allie seemed like the genuine and down to earth type of girl. She didn't seem like other people and she wasn't stereotyped as a normal cheerleader. A lot of the freshmen girls looked up to her because she was good at what she did and she was a pretty girl.

"Picking up a case of water," he said to her. "What about you?"

"Wow, Troy Bolton does his own grocery?" Allie joked.

Troy gave a fake laugh, "very funny. But yeah I thought I should stop by so I wouldn't have to tomorrow," he said.

"Before I forget, I just wanted to say thank you so much for doing the charity event," Allie said. "We've raised more money this year than any other year and I wanted to thank you, and thank your parents for the generous donation they made too," Allie said.

"You're welcome." Troy always had a hard time saying no to people; it was like one of his weaknesses. When they asked for a favor, he'd give in to them because he wanted to be a good person and please them. That's why he agreed to the special concert for the people at his school and agreed to the kissing booth.

"I was hoping maybe I can take you out for lunch sometimes if you're up for it? As a thank you and all?"

Troy nodded his head. "That sounds good, I'll see when I can and I'll let you know," he said.

Allie smiled, "alright, let me know," she said and they parted their ways. Once Allie saw Troy going into the store, she picked up her phone. "Hey baby," she said on the receiver.

"Did he go for it?"

"Yeah of course, you know how charming I can get!"

"Sweet. Now make sure you get him to fall for you and you know the rest."

"I will Conner, I promise," she said on the phone and hung up the phone. She smiled to herself and got into her car, driving off with a plan in her head.

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**Review please! New chapters will be posted every friday or saturday, maybe sunday!**


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